THE SOUTH-EAST COAST OF DEVON 1 69 
us on our left, their gardens touching the edge of the 
stream, whose blue, mirror-lilce surface reflects the shadows 
of the trees and shrubs flanking these river-side gardens. 
Now we pass away from the houses, hut still we can see the 
blue water of the Dart through the leafy interstices of the 
trees which fringe the river’s brink. Then there is an 
opening in the trees, and we can peep out on a charming bit 
of scenery — the river below calmly flowing into the sea, 
whilst across on the Kingswear side the wooded cliffs present 
a noble and grand appearance. Then, at length, passing the 
church, we emerge hard by the ruins of Old Dartmouth 
Castle. Here the mouth of the harbour comes out on the 
open sea, which spreads away in the distance until it is 
hounded by the faint blue line of the horizon. Close by’on 
our right, as we stand and look seawards, a wood-crowned ivy- 
covered cliff that rears its head above us, descends sheer to 
the water’s edge. Down beneath, scattered over the wild hit 
of beach which nestles thus at the foot of the frowning cliff, 
great fallen masses of rock lie strewn, some of them covered 
by the sea, and others just peeping out of the tide. 
Some steps cut in the rock lead us up to the summit of the 
ivy- covered cliff, and thence a winding path takes us along a 
meadow over the crest of a hill which commands a beautiful 
view of the harbour-mouth. Across, on the Kingswear side, 
the steep cliff that hounds the sea is wooded down to within 
a few feet of the water’s edge, and crowned with undulating- 
meadows. The mouth of the river widens out gracefully and 
symmetrically to the sea. On both sides the basin of the 
harbour is formed of rounded hills, which sweep gracefully 
down to the rocky bases against which the waves roar. 
Clustered trees hang on the cliff-side as the course of the 
river disappears from view, round a bend of the hill on the 
left, in the direction of Dartmouth. Away from our feet, the 
meadow on which we stand sweeps roundly down to the crest 
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